Adapted from Naace

Safer Internet Day 8 February 2011 It's more than a game, it's your life   Safer Internet Day is organised by Insafe each year in February to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world. The topic for 2011 is "our virtual lives" around the slogan "It's more than a game, it's your life".   To celebrate Safer Internet Day, Naace is encouraging its members to take advantage of the following opportunities: FREE e-safety courses   At www.ictcp4free.co.uk: ·         Embedding E-Safety in the Curriculum (Short Course) ·         Embedding E-Safety in the Curriculum (Long Course)   And in Second Life: ·         See here for joining instructions Prizes, prizes, prizes!   Put your e-safety knowledge to use and win a FREE subscription to to the new Sumdog numeracy website.   We’ve got 20 whole-school subscriptions (each worth £100) to give away, which extend Sumdog's free maths games with detailed pupil reports.   To be in with a chance to win one of them, please complete our short e-safety quiz at www.surveymonkey.com/s/E-safetyquiz   The first 20 winners with the highest score will receive a free whole-school subscription for a year. Enter now!   Get access to a selection of:   ·         interactive e-safety resources   ·        "How to..." guides     Extras, more freebies and support in lesson planning – read

Increasingly, there seems to be a consensus that pupil owned devices should play a bigger role in their learning at school.  A recent survey by RM, NAACE and Intellect gave an interesting insight into how practitioners evaluate the role of technology in learning.  Whilst we continue to work towards this and can even point to some early success in Norfolk, we cannot yet talk of a widespread approach to make this a normality.  A significant proportion of schools continue to ban pupil devices.  Usually there is an acceptance that pupils will have devices, but they must stay out of sight or will get confiscated. Some schools have taken a bold approach, developed some rules and policy with the student body and are beginning to see some benefit.  Other have started to adjust their networks to provide free wifi & Internet for pupil owned devices.  This is increasingly seen as a normal expectation in FE and HE institutions, with Sixth Forms catching up fast.

What is needed next, are the case studies which show that such an approach has impact on learning throughout the whole institution and not just for the enthusiast who deploys this in their classroom.

Interesting times - that's what I hear more and more often when I talk to people about ICT and learning.  Clearly, the change at a national level are having some impact, but school life is surprisingly resilient and the impact of technology on learning is increasing if anything. 

Whilst we are in a process of re-organising a few things (See ICT Services for School's project), we are also continuing with some of the work that teachers appreciate a lot.  For a start, there are two big conferences coming up and both of them promise to provide insight into the way pedagogy is changing and technology is enhancing learning.

Our Norfolk ICT Conference (details to be announced shortly) promises some high calibre keynote speakers and the E2BN Conference will provide welcome regional networking as new support structures emerge both within Norfolk and the East of England.

 

There is still time for parents of children with profound disabilities or special educational needs to apply for a Home Access package with Assistive Technology to help with learning in the home. Packages are being distributed free with the help of ICT specialists, XMA and Assistive Technology experts iansyst. Up to 5,000 grants for individually configured computer packages are left, but these grants must be applied for before 30 November 2010. Upon award of a grant a computer package is tailored for the learner’s individual needs and can be worth up to £2,000.

If you have children in your school or are working with children with SEN or disabilities, ask the families to check eligibility and apply by calling the Home Access helpline on 0333 200 1004 or visit www.xma4ha.co.uk/assistivetechnology.aspx or www.homeaccess.org.uk to learn more. (copied from naace)

There is a new level of transparancy at Norfolk County Council as the ICT service provider, ICT Solutions is being joined up with the corporate technology unit.  The details of how this will be done, by when and who is involved have all been publicised on the web.  Documents such as the PID (don't you just love a bit of project jargon ), the way schools will be involved (Stakeholder engagement strategy) and other details are all publicly available.  Norfolk might be making the most of a new era, where there is no sign of new capital investement in ICT from national sources, but also more freedom.

Schools on the whole seem to be increasingly positive when reporting on some of the services they receive.  Yet pressure on budgets and the arrival of technologies that can make us more efficient might just be some of the incentives to rethink technology provision in education.  The real incentive ought to be our ambition to do right by the young people we serve.

With a strong vision of how LEARNING should at the heart of it and pupils who are supported to increasingly take responsibility for their learning, there is much chance that 21st century ideas drive the kinds of technology we want to have in Norfolk.

A lot will depend on schools, but early signs are promising, with 50% of responses to the survey on ICT Requirements for schools coming from young people, there is every chance that their voice will be heard.  Teachers and senior leaders will be given opportunities to get involved directly.  The workshops coming up next week are one of those.  Hopefully many will be involved and driven by their own vision of how Technology should impact on learning and not just by efficiencies.

Hello

o2, the mobile people with Sean Bean's adverts, have launched a new site for teachers and students.

Teachers (perhaps with the encouragement of their students) post short video lessons, which are then filed by subject on the site. Students (and teachers) can view these videos, and even post requests for topics to be covered.

Go to o2learn to find out more!

After the hiccup of BSF being cancelled, work is now underway to build a single ICT service for schools and the County Council.  The schools' service is up for a redesign to make sure it is in line with our ambitions to have world class ICT for Norfolk's learners.

The questionnaire on what kinds of requirements schools have to deliver 21st century learning has just been published. 

Click here to start the questionnaire.

Some hopefully useful snippets on e-learning this week:

Word on the grapevine is that there is a new project in Norfolk to redesign ICT services for schools.  Schools should be able to find out tomorrow from ICT Solutions' ebulletin or MI Sheet on Oct 29th.  There is likely to be quite a lot of consultation with schools - we'll keep you posted.

The Guardian is running a competition for Classroom Innovation Awards.  More details on their website.

There is a new report from Becta outlining what cloud computing is all about and how it is relevant to schools.

ICT Mark Special offer - Attention small schools in England! (from Naace)

Limited funding is still available for small schools in England who are applying for ICT Mark accreditation and will be allocated on a first come first served basis! Successful schools will receive a £200 discount from their final invoice. To qualify for this fabulous offer – the school must have less than 100 pupils. 34 lucky schools have gained benefit from the Small Schools Initiative so far! To find out more please contact ictmark@naace.co.uk.

 

There are some useful links on the latest Futurelab Newsletter

Follow us on Twitter: @sebgasse, @norfolkteachers

	Digital literacy and innovation handbooks now re-available Three of our previously out-of-print publications are now available online at futurelab.magcloud.com. A printed copy can be ordered for a small fee or an electronic version can be downloaded to an iPad free of charge. A pdf copy and further information about the handbooks can also be found on our website. Further information...
	Thinking guides Thinking guides can support independent and group research projects with frameworks for thinking, planning and enquiry. Now available to purchase from Futurelab are a set of ready-made, interactive thinking guides. Print them, edit them or use them as inspiration to make your own! Further information...

 

Offer to E2BN Schools   Do your colleagues need to know more about E2BN Online Learning Resources? Twilight and INSET sessions introducing E2BN resources such as The Gallery, Making The News2, Myths and Legends, Cookit and DiscoveryBox Could you use some help using E2BN Online Learning Resources in the classroom? E2BN Master classes – An E2BN E-Learning Consultant in your classroom working with you and your pupils to get the most from an E2BN online Learning Resource. Try running a News Day with Making The News 2 or develop story writing skills with Myths and Legends. Contact our E-Learning Consultants to find out more. Barbara@e2bn.org or Carol@e2bn.org

Hello

We're exploring some of the free apps available on the 'net at the moment. A current favourite is Weebly (Google it!), which allow s the creation of simple web pages online.Wordle is well known, but we also think that Bubbl.us is good.

I'm going to develop these apps as revision tools for Year 10 GCSE students and Ill report back on their effectiveness!